Monday, September 05, 2011

"ALL RIGHT!"

I was "there" for Live Aid. In front of the television, anyway. And yes, kids - Freddie Mercury was just as larger-than-life then as he seems today. In fact, when he and the band performed "Hammer to Fall" that day in July, I was convinced he was 40-feet tall. Just fire up that YouTube video to see what I am talking about.

After that crazy, exuberant singalong/intro, Freddie exclaims "ALL RIGHT!" and the crowd echoes his exclamation so very faithfully. Freddie looks elated at the crowd's response. It's as if he is congratulating the crowd on their joint performance. This is what they mean when they talk about great performers erasing boundaries between themselves and the audience.

But I am not in the stadium. Not even close. I am fifteen years old, watching this thrilling moment unfold on live TV and I just lose my fucking mind. It's the kind of a moment that makes you want to run to everyone and tell them about this thing you just saw.

Now here I am. I just saw the YouTube video again and I want to tell *everyone* about it. So here they are: Queen, playing Hammer to Fall, at Live Aid. I hope you lose your fucking mind.

9 comments:

Oh, yes. Live Aid. To my eternal regret, I got to see it later that year in a recording. A couple of years later, a friend - rock obssessed, guitar-playing, fan mail to Rush writing - four cassette set of Queen and asked me a few times if I was sure I wanted it and if I liked Queen. (I wondered then about that, but it later occurred to me that he wanted the stuff for himself). When I said yes very emphatically, he took out an extra, bonus tape of Greatest Hits and gave that to me as well.

*sigh*

Oh the late 80s! Oh Freddie. (What did you think of the tribute concert for him?)

Only a week back I saw Pearl Jam performing Better Man in Madison Square garden. Eddie Vedder pauses and lets the crowd sing the first verse and then continues. Here it is - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4BObpNQqNo

Also, there's a Bowie/Annie Lennox version of Under Pressure (from rehearsals for the tribute concert I think) where the other performers are standing around and singing along. It's lovely.